Latest Posts

Tharman Talks: Singapore in the next 50 years

Ever wanted to ask our Ministers some really tough questions on immigration and what makes Singapore work? Let straight-talking journalist Stephen Sackur from BBC HARDtalk do it for you!

Watch as DPM Tharman Shanmugaratnam answers challenging questions on Singapore’s population and the fate of our nation in front of world leaders at the St Gallen Symposium.

Interactive Infographic on Population

First of its kind interactive infographic on Singapore’s population. You won’t feel nerdy with these facts and figures. Find out how long people your age are expected to live! We had a lot of fun making this, so look for all the interactive features on each page.

Singapore’s Silver Age

Almost every day, Madam Ho Yee Mooi visits a senior activity centre in Kreta Ayer near Chinatown, where she can meet her friends, exercise and play games. Although she needs to rely on a walking stick to make the trip some days, the 97-year-old says it is important for her to leave the house and talk to other people.

“If I stayed at home alone and faced the four walls all day, I would be very unhappy and become unhealthy,” said the fiercely independent senior, who also makes it a point to take short walks on Sundays when the centre is closed.

This indomitable spirit dates from Madam Ho’s days as one of the Samsui women, who literally helped to build modern Singapore.

Paying the Price of Closing Singapore’s Gates

ST Editor, Warren Fernandez: “So long as we plan and provide the necessary housing, transport, health care and other facilities for these workers in a timely and sustainable fashion, Singapore has no reason to shut its gates. Indeed, as a city-state, it has a huge advantage over other cities such as Jakarta, Bangkok or Beijing in being able to use its national borders to carefully calibrate the flow of workers from abroad. Rejecting this controlled inflow and failing to manage it to greatest effect is a national folly we can ill afford.”

Integration, Singapore Style: A Mix of Laws and Social Norms

Charlie Hebdo: Freedom of Speech or Respect for other’s Religion. And what does it mean for the Singapore style of integration? Prof Chan Heng Chee says, “…integration is not a condition one can take for granted”.

Bucking the trend – More babies in more developed countries

It used to be that low birthrates were the destiny of development. With better child survival rates and more career opportunities, people in developed countries were having fewer babies compared to their developing country counterparts.

However, some countries have bucked this trend – France, Sweden, Norway, and more recently Japan.

A two-way street to accommodating immigrants

In the wake of the Charlie Hebdo incident, Straits Times Editor Chua Mui Hoong reflects on how we should accommodate immigrants in Singapore.

Accommodating immigrants and new arrivals cuts both ways: immigrants do their part to “fit in”, and locals have the choice to respond with resentment and rejection of the diversity immigrants bring (a la France), or use this chance to embrace little changes which will refresh and advance Singapore society.

A 10 million population is controversial, but Dr Liu believes this as a key to long-term urban planning, to ensure that we will not run out of land, and that future needs are more than adequately met.

Radical?

Facts in Five Minutes: Latest labour market and population trends

Introducing “Facts in Five Minutes”, a new series of posts which captures reports and articles in bite-size portions, to get you up to speed on latest population issues. To kick off the series, here is a round-up of the latest reports, added to the Resources section.

Labour Market Report, Second Quarter 2014

What’s happening in the labour market?

In the first half of 2014, the Ministry of Manpower continued to take steps to raise the quality of our foreign workforce and reduce reliance on foreign labour. This is in line with overall efforts to achieve quality growth driven by productivity improvements.

How is the labour market doing?

Unemployment rate remained low and stable amid the tight labour market. Seasonally-adjusted citizen unemployment rate was 2.9% in June 2014.

Total employment growth moderated due to a significant slowdown in foreign employment growth. For the first half of 2014, foreign employment growth more than halved, when compared to the same period in 2013.

Population Trends 2014 and Population in Brief 2014

Why do population trends matter?

Population issues impact various aspects of society and economy, hence it is important to track our population profile closely. Ultimately, we aim to build a sustainable population based on the three pillars of (i) a strong and cohesive society with a strong Singaporean core, (ii) a dynamic and vibrant economy to provide good jobs and opportunities for Singaporeans, and (iii) a high quality living environment.

How far have we progressed towards a sustainable population?

Singapore’s total population was 5.47 million as of June 2014. The total population grew by 1.3% from June 2013 to June 2014, the slowest growth rate in the last ten years.

The citizen population grew at the same pace as last year to 3.34 million, with citizen births and immigration. The permanent resident population remained stable at 0.53 million.

Growth of the non-resident population has slowed significantly to 2.9%, compared to 4.0% last year.

Moving forward together with both our heads and our hearts

In PM Lee’s speech “Singapore in Transition – the Next Phase”, he shares three principles for how we can maintain a sense of purpose even as Singapore changes gears. These principles reflect how we can approach our population challenges, for a brighter and more confident future.

In a nutshell:

Look outwards, not just inwards. This sets our own issues in perspective. Major changes in the Asian landscape are having a big impact on us. Globalisation and technological advances can create and disrupt businesses swiftly.

Act with both our heads and our hearts. PM cited population policies as a key example where both “heart” and “head” approaches are needed. With “heart”, we give weight to how comfortable people are with the pace of immigration, as it is about a sense of identity and nationhood. With “head”, we keep population inflows moderate and sustainable, to create the jobs needed. This was a balance, for the good of Singapore and to secure our future.

Take heart from the past and be confident of our future. We remember the lessons of history, so that we learn the hard-won lessons and value what we have painstakingly built. We are confident of the future, as we have the resources, the talent, and the base, to go further and make Singapore truly exceptional.

Job Matching Made Easier

For Singaporeans seeking to find employment, and employers seeking to hire, WDA’s newly-launched Jobs Bank may go some way to resolve their job matching woes.

In line with the Fair Consideration Framework which seeks to change mindsets and workplaces to ensure a level-playing field for Singaporeans, the Jobs Bank was launched on 14 July, and is a free online portal to match Singaporeans to prospective employers, and contribute towards good jobs and opportunities for Singaporeans. Something to check out, considering the growing buzz — more than 4,300 employers and 12,900 individuals already registered during the beta version launched in May, and the number of available vacancies has more than doubled to 37,000 in the two weeks since the official launch!

Harnessing Positivity to Change for the Better

In Prof David Chan’s article “Democracy of deeds and voices” (295kb .pdf; Straits Times, 7 Jun 2014), he advocates that “voices and actions solve problems” and that “positivity opens hearts and minds”. In our evolving democracy, it is a combination of deeds and voices that will lead to real improvement in society and people’s quality of life – not just for the people who are helped but also for those who step forward to give voice and take action.

Megatrends such as shifts in the global economy and the rise of disruptive technologies are changing the way people around the world live, work and play. These trends also feed into the complexity of our demographic challenge, impacting how we strengthen our citizen workforce, balance the pros and cons of immigration, and support active and meaningful aging. Public expressions of negative emotions have loomed large. Prof David Chan makes a distinction between public expressions of negative emotions – which is not always a bad thing, and a “negativity mindset” which he describes as “a self-reinforcing confirmatory bias” and “the tendency to seek out, interpret and remember information that confirms existing beliefs, positions or actions which highlight negative attributes of the target.” Such a mindset hinders reflective thinking, locks in negative conclusions, and prevents constructive discussion which is key towards finding solutions to problems.

Keeping pace with change will determine our success as a people and a country. This will involve efforts from everyone including the government, the community and the individual. Prof Chan proposes that people-centric involvement in deeds and voices will help foster a “positivity mindset” over time, and is a resource for Singaporeans to deal with the change challenge, and to adapt to and harness change. Indeed, our society will continue to mature and be a stronger society as our people get involved in the community, contribute with both constructive words and actions, and make a positive impact on the lives of people around them. Equipped with positivity, our citizens will be confident to pursue their aspirations regardless of the circumstances, and empowered to be the change-makers themselves.

Small Stitches, Big Difference

Great video on a former seamstress working at Edwards Lifesciences, an American MNC in Singapore producing replacement heart valves (likewise, careful stitching required). Good to see foreign MNCs taking innovative steps to engage our older workers, creating win-win situations. The jobs created are the kinds Singaporeans look for – good career progression, work benefits, and meaningful!

PM Lee on population issues at the Debate on President’s Address

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong spoke about development in population issues during his speech at the Debate on President’s Address on 28 May 2014. Recapping the changes so far, PM Lee said that the inflow of foreign workers per year has almost halved since 2011. This fall in growth is even more significant when excluding construction workers.

But these changes have to be carefully managed. Companies especially SMEs are feeling the pain. If firms cannot survive, many Singaporean jobs will be at risk. To help firms adapt to the new environment, the government has introduced various schemes including the Productivity and Innovation Credit.

Closer attention is also being paid to manage the inflow of two groups of foreign workers – foreign Professionals, Managers and Executives (PMEs) and foreign construction workers.

For foreign PMEs, “the issue here is less about the numbers, but about the quality of foreign PMEs and also about fair treatment for Singaporean PMEs”, he said. To ensure a level playing field for Singaporeans, the government will be implementing the Fair Consideration Framework from August this year.

On foreign construction workers, their social impact will be much felt given their larger numbers. While the government has tightened their inflow and pushed for productivity improvements, there are still many construction projects in need of workers. It will be a necessary trade-off to defer some of these projects such as the extensions for Gardens by the Bay and a new Science Centre at Marina East to reduce the number of workers required.

NPTD’s Addendum to the President’s Address

The President’s Address delivered in Parliament on 19 May 2014 had set out the Government’s plans for a better Singapore over the next few years.

Singapore is our home and we are committed to seeing our country flourish as a liveable city and an endearing home. The National Population and Talent Division will continue to work towards our vision of a sustainable population where Singaporeans are the heart of our nation, where we have opportunities to pursue our aspirations, and which we are proud to call our home.

Our focus is on the following three key areas:

Sustaining our citizen population through a supportive environment for marriage and parenthood, engagement of overseas Singaporeans, and the integration of new immigrants;

Providing more opportunities as well as quality care for our rapidly increasing number of seniors, so that they remain active in society; and

Taking a balanced approach to slow the growth of our foreign workforce, while maintaining a vibrant economy with opportunities and jobs of the future for Singaporeans.